Kezhal Dashti leaves WFAA8 after short stay with Daybreak

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterKezhal Dashti, who in December was hired as “social media” anchor for WFAA8’s Daybreak, has decided to leave the Dallas-based station, several sources confirm.

Her official “News Team” bio has been quickly removed from wfaa.com.

Dashti, who recently married and is a five-year survivor of ovarian cancer, took a personal leave earlier this year after the program’s early morning hours proved to be longer and more trying than she had expected. She joined WFAA8 from El Paso’s Fox station, KFOX-TV, succeeding Janelle Brandom, who likewise had a short stay with Daybreak.

Dashti, a Texas Christian University journalism graduate, earlier had interned at both NBC5 and with KISS-FM’s Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. She also had a three-month tenure at The Dallas Morning News before joining KFOX in March 2015.

Carolyn Mungo, newly promoted from executive news director to WFAA8’s vice president and station manager, is out of the office until June 10th, according to an automated email reply. But save for very rare instances, she doesn’t respond to inquiries from unclebarky.com.

Dashti has declined to comment further. But in response to a fan, Dashti previously said in a social media post that she’s been “focusing on my mental health” while away from the station and that “WFAA is being super supportive.”

She reportedly is now exploring other opportunities and will “share more when I’m ready.”